Area MUW nursing students elected to statewide positions

Mississippi University for Women nursing students elected to the Mississippi Association of Student Nurses include, from left, Lauren Ratcliff of Caledonia, Forrest Pogue of Columbus, Haritha Abbott of Starkville, and Kristen Pippin of Columbus. Photo by: Courtesy photo

MUW Public Affairs

January 5, 2013 8:28:24 PM

Mississippi University for Women nursing students were elected to four statewide positions in the Mississippi Association of Student Nurses.

The students elected were Forrest Pogue and Kristen Pippin, both of Columbus; Lauren Ratcliff of Caledonia; and Haritha Abbott of Starkville. They are all juniors in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

Pogue was elected as president, and Abbott will serve as first vice president. Ratcliff will be director of Breakthrough to Nursing, and Pippin will serve as chairperson of Nominating & Elections Committee.

Throughout the next year, MASN will help facilitate the entrance of these nursing student leaders into the profession by providing educational resources, leadership opportunities and career guidance to enhance the professional development of these students and their ability to contribute to the future of nursing.

As part of the MASN board, the students will be involved in several activities over the next year, including the annual Nursing Summit of the Mississippi Nurses' Association which builds a strong coalition among nursing organizations throughout the state to work together to address nursing shortages, faculty shortages, practice issues and other concerns for nurses in Mississippi.

"We are proud of our nursing students who were elected to several statewide leadership positions within the Mississippi Association of Student Nurses and who will now have opportunities to be involved in the National Student Nurses Association," said Dr. Sheila Adams, dean of the College of Nursing and Speech-Language Pathology. "MUW has always been a strong supporter of MASN and the professional development opportunities it provides to nursing students. To have MUW nursing students elected to approximately 30 percent of the statewide leadership positions is quite an honor considering there are seven baccalaureate and 17 associate degree nursing programs in Mississippi."